Welcome to another edition of my Weekly Journal! I use this space to share about my journey from lawyer to jewelry business owner. This week's journal entry is a practical post that newbie (and aspiring!) business owners will find helpful. I know a lot of people used their extra downtime over the past year to build a website and work on their business dreams. If that's you, bravo! That's so exciting! But once you have the wheels moving, it can start to feel even more overwhelming than it did at the start. Am I right? That's because you're really in the thick of it now. Your business went from this idea in your head to a real thing, and you're really starting to understand how a small business works and how many moving parts you need to juggle. From building your social media following, to managing inventory, to setting up an email system, to hiring help, to creating a logo, to deciding how to price your products or services, oh the tasks are endless! Take a breather for a second and read on because I want to share a little strategy, as well as my top 3 things to prioritize. I've avoided the obvious things (like design a logo) and instead focus on 3 things you might not realize the importance of yet (but you'll thank me later!).

If you are feeling overwhelmed and in over-your-head, I want you to first embrace the idea that you cannot possibly get everything done now or even this year. Building a new business is a longer journey - a marathon, not a sprint. For example, I purchased a Pinterest for Business online course in 2018 and I am just now, in 2021, really focusing on that course and building my Pinterest presence. I should have done this already since I sell wedding jewelry and many brides plan their weddings on Pinterest. But it just hasn't happened yet. And that is okay. This will happen to you too (not necessarily with Pinterest but with other things) because there are only so many hours in a day. So accept that fact at the get-go, rather than beating yourself up for all the things you aren't getting done every single day.

Second, make a list of all that needs to be done. Do a complete and total brain dump. Keep your list handy over the next few days so you can add to it (you'll think of more and more and more things...). This exercise will help you feel a little less frazzled. It always feels good when you get those frantic, random thoughts out of your head and onto a page.

Third, after a few days have passed and you're relatively certain that you've captured all the "to do's" running around your brain, begin to prioritize the items on your list. This step will give you a clearer vision of the big picture and allow you to see how the puzzle pieces fit together. Regardless of the type of business you've started, there are 3 major things that ALL business owners should prioritize at the very start. I'm going to skip the obvious things (like designing a logo) and instead list 3 things that you may not realize the importance of yet, but you will shortly. Here they are:

1) If you've set up your shop on a platform like Etsy or if you're just selling items through your Instagram account, prioritize setting up your own website. 

I cannot stress this enough. That is why it's number one on my list here. Platforms like Etsy, Instagram, etc can disappear tomorrow. And you know who owns all the data pertaining to your sales and customers? NOT YOU! That is a huge area of risk. Let me explain. Let's say you've set up an Etsy page and items are flying off the shelf. You've made 5,000 sales in your first month. Well, if Etsy disappeared tomorrow (or - in the more likely scenario - changed its terms of service in a way that negatively impacts you) you can go from 5,000 sales per month to zero real fast. And it would be completely out of your control. Etsy owns all the data about those sales and those customers and you own none of it. Where would you go from there? You wouldn't even be able to contact these 5,000 people and tell them where they can find you next. You'll have to build your own website at that point and start over from scratch. So just do this from the get-go. It's okay to run a website and an Etsy page at the same time, but make sure the people you sell to know about your website. For example, when you ship their Etsy order, include a little notecard about your website and perhaps offer them 10% off their next purchase from your website. This will encourage them to interact with you directly, and not through Etsy (that'll also mean higher profit margins for you because Etsy won't take a cut!).

It is so easy and inexpensive to set up a professional website these days. Try Squarespace or Shopify. There are beautiful website templates on these sites with easy drag and drop technology so you don't have to worry about coding or designing. In my opinion, avoid Wordpress in the beginning. It's more difficult to navigate which means you're going to put it off longer and this is not something that can wait. You can always upgrade your website down the road. Don't forget that! So just get going as quickly as possible with a website platform that's user-friendly. I use Shopify and highly recommend them! 

2) Get an email system and build your email list from the very start. This is somewhat connected to task number one. The contact information of the people who are interested in your products or services is very valuable. It is perhaps the biggest asset you have. Why? Because you can communicate with these people! And they are likely to buy! They are already at least somewhat interested in what you have to offer so you want to be able to explain your products or services to them in greater detail, advise them of upcoming sales, etc. Once you have a decent sized list, you can also use this information to do other things in your business, like run ads on social media platforms (that's a topic for another day). And trust me, once you get to those more advanced tasks, you are going to be WISHING you had set up an email system on day one. Once you set it up, it runs automatically in the background and you never have to worry about it.

Listen, you don't even have to email these people right away, ok? Just promise me you'll collect their emails. You can come up with on-brand emails and sale announcements down the road if you don't have time now. Even if it takes you a year to come up with emails that you think will be of service to your potential customers, you will be so grateful that you started collecting their email addresses from the start. 

Think about it in relation to point number one above. If Etsy disappeared tomorrow, with a few key strokes on your computer you'd be able to email the 5,000 people who bought from you to tell them about your website. Your business wouldn't die on the day that Etsy pulled the plug. That's a really easy risk-management step to take, don't you think? I think so! Here's another thing to think about. There are a lot of issues with Instagram and Facebook right now - everything from censorship to privacy concerns (there is a big privacy change that Apple is making to iPhones this year that is going to impact the way Instagram/Facebook operates). And I have a strong gut feeling that big changes are coming to social media platforms in the next year or two. So don't bank on them being around in their current form forever. Start now. Build an email list so that you don't have to rely exclusively on these platforms to communicate with your customers and potential customers.

So how do you collect emails? You know those pop ups you see when you go to a website? You know, where they offer you a discount in exchange for your email address? They're not just being generous there. They're offering you something substantial so that you'll want to give up your email address. A discount is usually the best offer (who doesn't love a discount!?) but you can also offer a free guide or something else creative. Just make sure it's good enough, or you are going to have a hard time getting people to give up their email address. Then set up a pop up on your website, just like the ones you've seen on other sites. How do you do that? Read on - I'll tell you at the end of the next paragraph.

The email platform I would recommend is Flodesk. I've used Mailchimp in the past and researched other email platform services but, in my opinion, they are not user-friendly. Unless you know how to code, it's hard to make on-brand, pretty emails. And when you think your business emails look like crap, you don't want to send them. And therefore you completely lose the opportunity to communicate with the people who most want to hear from you! Flodesk finally fixed that problem. You don't need to know how to code and can simply choose from their templates and customize them with drag and drop technology. Flodesk is also incredibly affordable. I was paying way over $100/month on Mailchimp and now I'm paying $19/month on Flodesk. You can also set up a pop up through Flodesk to collect emails very easily. Just go to the Flodesk help section and they'll walk you through it. If the instructions don't make sense to you, go to YouTube and search for a video that walks you through the exact steps. Sometimes you just need a person to show you each step!

3) Last but not least, my third recommendation is to set up your Facebook Pixel on your website. Just like collecting emails - you don't even have to do anything with the pixel right away, ok? Just promise me you'll set it up.

What is the pixel? The pixel collects data related to your website. It allows you to see who's visited your website and whether they "added to cart" and much more. When you have this data, you can use it to run highly effective ads. The pixel, in other words, is the basis for starting ad campaigns on social media. I don't really know anyone who's wasting money on magazine or newspaper ads these days - any savvy small business is running social media ads because they are WAY less expensive and WAY more effective. I would highly recommend you take a course on social media advertising early on in your business or - if you're not ready for that - regularly listen to some podcasts on this topic so you can begin to learn about it.

If you have a platform like Shopify, it is so easy to set up the pixel. It's literally a matter of cutting and pasting. Go to your website platform's help center and search "how to set up the Facebook Pixel" or head on over to YouTube and search "how to set up the Facebook Pixel on {insert the name of your website platform whether that's Shopify, Squarespace, etc}." Then, when you're ready to run some ads - even if that's two years from now - you will have built up two years' worth of data that you can then use to run effective ad campaigns.

Two side notes: (1) you need to have a Facebook Business Page in order to get a pixel (it takes a matter of minutes to set up a page so just head to Facebook or YouTube for instructions if you can't figure it out yourself) and (2) you cannot set up a Facebook Pixel on an Etsy page or another similar platform. You have to own the website in order to place a Facebook Pixel on it. That's another reason you want your own website and don't want to rely on Etsy!

Let me make another little note since it seems appropriate here: in the beginning, you might just be selling to friends and family. That's great for now. And maybe that's why you don't understand quite yet why it's so important to collect emails, design your own website, and set up a pixel. But selling to friends and family is not a long-term business strategy. At some point, you need to start selling your products or services to strangers. How do you do that? How do you sell to strangers? Word-of-mouth (but that tends to work pretty slowly), attending conferences or pop up shops or craft shows where you can sell your products or services, and running advertising campaigns that target people who are most likely to enjoy what you have to offer. Marketing and advertising might seem overwhelming at the moment but you'll get to it soon enough. For now, just set up the systems (an email list and a pixel) you will need to set up effective advertising campaigns later on.

I'll end on a positive note! Of this list, 2 out of 3 items should only take an afternoon. It doesn't take long to sign up for Flodesk, set up a pop up form to collect emails, and set up your Facebook Pixel. And if you don't have your own website yet, that really doesn't take a long time either if you are somewhat tech savvy. If you're not, consider hiring someone to build a basic site for you (you can always upgrade it later) or set a goal to spend 2 hours per week working on it yourself. Even if it takes you 12 months to complete it, at least you'll be well on your way to having your own website. 

If you'd like my Weekly Journal sent straight to your inbox every Monday night, click here to subscribe. I hope you're able to learn something from my experience and also my mistakes!

xoxo,
Stacy

Welcome to another edition of my Weekly Journal! I use this space to share about my journey from lawyer to jewelry business owner. In this week's journal entry I'm writing about how things can happen so quickly when you're on the right path. I think a lot of people who want to start their own business or change careers like I did get so caught up in the fears of what can go wrong. Naturally! We humans usually don't love the idea of change. But we get so consumed with those thoughts that we forget or overlook just how quickly things can fall into place when they're right and when they're meant to be. I'm sure you can look back and point to something you decided to do, big or small, and say, "Wow, I'm so glad I did that! Things just seemed to fall into place!" Why do we forget those experiences and instead focus so much attention on what can go wrong? I don't have the answer to that but I can tell you that you can (and you must!) choose differently if you want to make that big change. Otherwise, you might find yourself in the same spot 5 years from now, still hemming and hawing over whether you should make the leap.

Let me share a little of my own experience to help illustrate the point. I quit my lawyer job in February 2017. I was living in Chicago at the time with no intention to move or to ever expand my e-commerce business into a brick and mortar storefront. But just 3 years later, in 2020, I opened a storefront in downtown Charleston. What?! If someone would have told me that in 2017 I would have told them they're out of their mind. But you see, when you're in alignment with your purpose, your talents, your gifts, your God-given dreams, things just have a way of falling into place. And they often fall into place FAST.

Have you ever heard of the book The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho? It is a very famous book and a quick read, so I highly recommend it if you're on your journey to finding your purpose. Anyways, there's a famous quote from that book that goes something like this: "When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it." It is so true. That power is always available to us. The problem is we often block the power with our own thoughts, our own plans, our own self-limiting ideas (and that's a whole other topic for another journal entry!).

So, anyways, I'm living in Chicago and right around September 2018 (so about 18 months after I originally quit my job) I get this huge overwhelming urge to move out of Chicago. I did enjoy living in Chicago at the time, so it was a bit of a surprise to feel this so deeply. But I paid attention to my gut and after thinking it through for a couple weeks, I decided to sublet my apartment for a couple months and explore the idea without committing to it. Fast forward just a few months later and in May 2019, I moved to Charleston. And then three weeks later I met my now boyfriend of almost two years. And then not even one year later, I signed a lease to open my first storefront. Wow! It blows my mind that I haven't even lived in Charleston for two years yet (in about 7 weeks I'll hit my anniversary mark!). But that just goes to show you - when it's right, it's right. When it's meant to be, it all lines up. And it can line up quickly. Sometimes I have to remind myself, I haven't even been out of the legal profession for a full five years. Yet it feels so far away. It feels like I've lived another lifetime since then. So much has happened.

Anyways, I share this journal entry this week because I want to give you a little encouragement to think about how quickly things can line up when they are meant to be. When you're on the right path. When you are lining up with your purpose. Trust your gut. Go for it. You can always go back to your "old" life. Trust me. It's so easy to just go back and get another job in the same field you're currently in. Will it be comfortable and fun? No, but you could figure it out. I prefer to adopt the phrase "you have nothing to lose" rather than get so tied up in the fears that I stay stuck for years. Life is far, far, far too short for that. 

If you'd like my Weekly Journal sent straight to your inbox every Monday night, click here to subscribe. I hope you're able to learn something from my experience and also my mistakes!

xoxo,
Stacy

Welcome to another edition of my Weekly Journal! I use this space to share about my journey from lawyer to jewelry business owner. In this week's journal entry I want to talk about branding. If you want to start your own business someday, it's so important that you develop a brand and not just "sell" products or services. A lot of people miss this. They think if they start a website and upload pictures of their products, people will buy. That couldn't be further from the truth, especially these days.

In this day and age, people have the ability to buy things from people all over the globe. This wasn't the case in, say, 1990 when the Internet didn't exist. Before the Internet, we were limited to the stores in our geographic area. But now, we can purchase a plain white t-shirt from someone in Florida as easily as we can purchase a plain white t-shirt from someone in Australia. What makes one person buy from the seller in Florida, and another buy from the seller in Australia? If the products are exactly the same, the differences can be found in the branding. And one mistake I see a lot of new entrepreneurs make is failing to think about branding. 

If you aren't sure what branding is, let me explain. Businesses need a brand - or an identity - to grow and succeed. When you file paperwork to form your limited liability company ("LLC") or corporation, the state actually gives you a piece of paper that says your business is its own entity, distinct and separate from you. This entity can open bank accounts, get a credit card, and enter into contracts. Some would go so far to call their LLC or corporation a living, breathing thing, and when you start the business ownership journey you'll quickly understand why! It sometimes feels like a newborn who needs all your attention and care. And just like a growing newborn, the things you do (or don't do) help shape the personality of your business. If you don't give any attention to branding, the personality is going to be dry, boring, and fail to connect with the people you hope will buy from you. On the other hand, if you develop an engaging personality for your brand that resonates and connects with the people you hope to sell to, those people will most likely become customers. Do you get the distinction I'm trying to make here? There are businesses and then there are brands. A business merely tries to sell things. A brand, on the other hand, connects with you and tries to serve you and fulfill one of your needs. It is a relationship, not just a one-way street for selling. 

How do you go about creating a brand? Generally, a brand is based on the things that make your business different. Let's walk through an example. Say there's a company that makes scarves and hires former victims of domestic violence to sew them. That company's branding will probably center around the empowerment of women. Their marketing messages will be inspirational and perhaps focus on a woman's resilience. You get the point? The company isn't just selling scarves. It's a company that's selling scarves with the much larger mission of empowering women through whatever circumstance they might face. And that concept resonates with a lot of people out there.

So if you plan on starting your own business, one of the first things you should think about is how you are different from all other sellers selling the same things. Then use those differences as a starting point to craft your brand's personality.

What makes up a brand personality? So much! The logo design, the colors of your packaging, the font on your website, the tone of the language on your Instagram posts - basically everything that comprises the look and tone of your business. For example, a jewelry company selling dainty, feminine jewelry like mine is probably going to use soft colors like pink and lavender, as opposed to red and orange. It'll use soft, flowery language on Instagram, not a sarcastic tone.

Here are two "big picture" questions you can consider when developing your brand:

1) Who is my ideal customer and what would appeal to him or her?

For example, if your main customer is a 20-year-old college student, the colors you'll select and the language you'll use will be very different from the colors and language that would resonate with a 50-year-old father.

2) How do I want to make my customers feel when they interact with me and my business?

For me and grace + hudson, I want people to feel a sense of lightness and feminine beauty when they interact with my brand. This is very different from a jewelry brand that wants to come across as trendy and edgy. 

If you are setting up a business (or already have!), I hope this is good food for thought. Definitely devote lots of time and attention to building your brand. It truly will make the difference between getting zero sales and getting tons of sales.

If you'd like my Weekly Journal sent straight to your inbox every Monday night, click here to subscribe. I hope you're able to learn something from my experience and also my mistakes!

xoxo,
Stacy

Welcome to another edition of my Weekly Journal! I use this space to share about my journey from lawyer to jewelry business owner. In this week's journal entry I'm chatting a little about trust and faith. If you desire to change careers or start your own business like I did (or maybe you're wishing to make some other big life change), there's never, ever going to be a 100% guarantee that it's going to work out. At some point, you are going to have to make the jump and trust that either (a) it'll work out the way you want or (b) it won't work out the way you want but it'll get you to the next right place you're supposed to be. It's hard to have this level of trust without some sort of faith. I talk about faith generally here and I encourage you to refer to a faith of your own understanding, whether that be in God, in the "Universe," or in some other source. And if you don't have a faith or a divine source, even more reason to read on and give it some consideration because it might be what's missing in the whole equation.

Let's back up a second. I wanted to write about this topic of trust and faith because I recently realized just how crucial it was to my journey from lawyer to jewelry business owner. Brief recap: I was a miserable lawyer for 11 years. I lost my father to cancer in 2017 and that experience made me realize that life is short and no amount of time is guaranteed (yeah, yeah, everyone knows this, but in my experience you don't truly understand this until you lose a parent or someone close to you before their time should really be up). You start living life differently when you truly understand that life is not guaranteed and you might not be here this time next year. So, as you might guess, this experience caused me to reevaluate my career choice and propelled me to make a huge change in the aim of finding more happiness and peace. Fast forward to 2021 and, boy, have things really changed! My jewelry business will turn 4 years old this June and is growing by leaps and bounds. When I think about my father's death now, I can't help but think how proud he would be that I used it for good. That I used that experience in a positive way. I allowed it to change me and to change my life. And I know my dad would be so proud to see me living out my dreams and living life with a deeper sense of purpose. It's as if his death gave me new life. And what better gift can a parent give his child? 

So that brings me to my main point: the absolute worst thing that I've ever experienced in my life (watching my father die from cancer in hospice care) led me to the greatest thing I've ever experienced in my life (my new career and business, and all the happiness, peace, and new people it's brought into my life).  

After that experience, it's actually hard for me to NOT trust that everything works out exactly the way it's supposed to. Phrases like "everything happens for a reason" have a deeper, more profound sense of meaning. I'm 40 years old now and, looking back, I can see why some things worked out the way I wanted and why some things didn't. The dots seem to connect in ways I couldn't see at the time. In small ways and in big ways. In all ways. And so my trust and faith in a higher power has grown tremendously. It's pretty difficult to rattle me these days because I look at even the negative experiences as divinely orchestrated. How can I not? The most negative thing that's ever happened to me led me to the most positive!

If you find yourself rolling your eyes at phrases like "everything happens for a reason" and "it'll all fall into place" and "if it's meant to be, it'll be", I don't blame you. Those words seem pretty empty and meaningless until you have a strong sense of faith and trust. And then you understand just how deep and rich with meaning these phrases are from your own first-hand experiences.

Ok, so let's get back to making a big change, whether that's changing careers, starting a business, or something else. Many people who want to make a big life change are nervous and anxious to make the leap and so they procrastinate, put it off, find excuses, and sometimes years and years go by. The fear that it might not "work out" is overpowering and they just can't seem to get past it. And justifiably so - there's fear because there is no 100% guarantee that it'll work out.

So what pushes some people across the finish line - from wishing and dreaming about a big life change to actually making it happen? To me, there's only one thing that can do that, and that's faith and trust. Faith and trust that you've been given the desire in your heart for a reason and that it won't lead you astray. Faith and trust that even if it doesn't "work out" the way you are dreaming about, the experience will ultimately teach you things, connect you to new people, and lead you to the next right opportunity. Faith and trust that the experience won't kill you (said figuratively of course, but I feel like so many people think about changing careers or starting a new business as if it's a life or death decision and it's just not! I promise you will not die if you decide to do either of those things). Faith and trust that you will figure out a way to pay your bills. Faith and trust that you will be able to figure everything out. And on and on the list goes...

If you are deeply desiring to make a big change but you just can't move from the dreaming and planning stage to the action stage, I encourage you to examine your faith and your trust in a higher power of your choosing and your own understanding. Whether that looks like meditating, praying to God, asking for guidance from a guardian angel (maybe that's a close relative in heaven you feel divinely connected to), reading the bible, returning to church, some other form of worship, or something else. Making a big change is hard and we're given no guarantees, but when we have a faith and a trust that all will be well no matter what, we find the deep courage to move forward. 

I hope this journal entry was helpful to you and made you think about life from a different perspective. If you'd like my Weekly Journal sent straight to your inbox every Monday night, click here to subscribe.

xoxo,
Stacy

Welcome to another edition of my Weekly Journal! I use this space to share about my journey from lawyer to jewelry business owner. In this week's journal entry I want to talk about the unconscious need for approval. Are you more attached to receiving approval than pursuing happiness? I find this is a big blind spot for people in high-level positions in particular who got straight A's all their lives and went to top colleges and grad schools. It used to be a big blind spot for me. Becoming aware of this issue is one of the keys to unlocking happiness and creating a life you love.

Let's jump right in and get deep here. For me in particular, I grew up with a father who rewarded success at school. To be honest, it was hard to get his attention and "approval" (i.e. love) in other ways. So I think I grew up thinking that I needed to get straight A's and be a high achiever to gain the "love" of my father. Totally false, but as a kid you don't know any better. If, into adulthood, you remain unaware of this root cause and underlying belief like I did, it can translate into things like this: let me get into an Ivy League college, let me go to law school, let me get the best six-figure lawyer job I can...all to prove I'm worthy...all to earn the "love" of my father. Perhaps you have had a similar experience.

When you spend a lifetime chasing "approval" you miss out on a lot. You deny yourself the beautiful experience of pursuing your own unique goals and the pathways that would lead to your happiness. Instead, you spend your energy chasing things other people want for you. This leads to feelings of frustration and unhappiness but, most of all, it leads to a feeling of emptiness. Have you ever strived for a goal only to achieve it and feel kind of empty? That's what I'm talking about here. If you're someone who strives and achieves, but never feels satisfied or inner peace or true happiness, you might be dealing with this issue. You might feel empty when you achieve a goal because it's really someone else's goal (for example, perhaps it is your parent's goal for you to get a high level position with a six-figure salary).

So once you're aware of this issue, where do you go from there? I believe the next step is writing down your own dreams and goals. This sounds a lot easier than it is. People with this issue often have a hard time verbalizing what they really want out of life because they've never really thought about it. They've spent their entire lives chasing dreams belonging to their parents or pursuing goals forced upon them by society and they've never even determined what they want. That was me! I saw a therapist for some time as a lawyer to talk through this issue (and others). Don't feel ashamed if you resonate with this paragraph - therapy has never been more accessible than it is right now. You can even talk to a therapist from the comfort of your own home these days. Remember, becoming aware of an issue is half the battle! So if this journal entry resonated with you, recognize that you're already half-way there.

If you'd like my Weekly Journal sent straight to your inbox every week, click here to subscribe. I hope you're able to learn something from my experience and also my mistakes!

P.S. Are you on Pinterest? I'm in the process of creating a Weekly Journal board on Pinterest so you can easily navigate all of my journal entries. I only have a few weekly journal entries on the board right now, but I'm adding more on a weekly basis. You can view and follow the board by clicking here. I've written so much about quitting my lawyer job to start g+h over the past couple years and I want to make it easier for you to read the entries that resonate most!

xoxo,
Stacy

Welcome to another edition of my Weekly Journal! I use this space to share about my journey from lawyer to jewelry business owner. In this week's journal entry, I'm talking about the importance of surrounding yourself with people who are doing what you want to be doing with your career. If you've been working for a little while, you've probably heard the expression, "If you don't want your boss' job someday, you might want to think about a different career path." It's true. Why would you work so hard if you don't want to progress on the path you're on? That sounds kinda silly, doesn't it? But what else could you do? A lot of people have identified that they don't like their current career path, but a lot of people haven't figured out what's next. So they stay stuck. And stuck is often an unhappy place to be. What's a girl to do if she finds herself in this position? I was there for a long time, so let me help you.

A few years ago, I was a lawyer living an unhappy life, struggling with the prospect of making a career change. I was highly educated - with degrees from both Cornell University and Emory Law School - yet I felt my career options were limited. WHAT?! Yes, it's true. And I bet you can relate no matter your career or education level. We get pigeon-holed into a certain career and we think there's no other options available to us. WRONG! Let me be the first to tell you that the skills you've acquired in your current job can translate nicely into another career field. I promise you. This is true no matter your career level. There are, for example, transferrable skills from working entry level positions at Starbucks or The Gap (that was my first job in high school!). Customer service, team work, organization skills, and in the case of Starbucks - reporting to work at an incredibly early hour shows a huge level of dedication, discipline, and hard work. All important character traits to have for any job. So the first key to getting out of your "stuckness" is identifying the skills and character traits that you possess and listing them all out on a piece of paper. Be as general as possible. For example, instead of saying that you're proficient in a certain computer program that only lawyers use, write on your list that you successfully learned how to use a unique and complex software program and became quite proficient at it. Do you get where I'm going with this? Start generalizing your skills. If you learned that lawyer software program, you can probably learn the software program at a doctor's office or in a big corporate office, you feel me? When you start generalizing your skills, you'll see that they aren't only suited to your current career field.

After you've done this, my next recommendation is that you get outside your little career bubble. You see, when I was a lawyer, I often spent 70+ hours a week devoted to work and my (very little) free time was spent running errands and, you know, just keeping my life together by paying bills, walking my dog, grocery shopping, and going to a yoga class or two. When you find yourself in this position, your exposure to other people is pretty limited. In other words, it was hard for me to see beyond my little career field, beyond my little bubble. There are millions of people out there performing millions of jobs, but I was so trapped in the legal profession that - when I wanted to look for other career options - my mind went blank. Maybe you can relate. Maybe you're a nurse or a teacher or in the IT field - whatever your field, it's easy to get a little stuck there. It's easy to become pigeon-holed. We often make friends at work, so perhaps many of our friends do the same jobs as us, too. We get so comfortable in this little world (even if we don't particularly like it) and it becomes difficult to see beyond it. I know so many lawyers that dislike their jobs, but they all say to me, "I just don't know what else I'd do with this degree." WHAT?! There are literally thousands if not millions of jobs they'd be qualified for. Lawyers have so many transferrable skills. Just to name a few, most lawyers are great writers, amazing researchers, and very skilled at analyzing data, negotiating, and critical thinking. And, these days, most lawyers need to be pretty good at technology too. A lot of digital documents and emails need to be analyzed before going to trial and there are a lot of complex IT concepts involved with that process.

So how do you get outside this little bubble? It can be as easy as Google! Do some searching. I bet you'll find articles and maybe even podcasts and interviews. For example, if you get on Google and search "former lawyer," you'll actually find a podcast with tons of interviews of former lawyers who are now doing something else (click here to listen to mine!). If you listen to one of these podcasts per day, in just a couple of weeks you will have expanded your mind from "I don't know what else I can do with this degree" to "there are so many other possibilities for me." That's pretty powerful stuff. There is huge power in surrounding yourself with examples of people who have already done it. That's why I named this journal entry "surround yourself with powerful examples." When you're in this state of possibility, good things start to happen. Opportunities start to arise. That good energy of "I can do this" and "there are options" and "I don't need to stay stuck here" really can propel you forward. It replaces the negative energy of "I'm stuck here" and "I don't have options" and "I'll never be able to do something else." If you've been following my journal entries for any length of time, you know I'm always emphasizing mindset. This is no different. Expand your mind. Find proof that there are lawyers {or insert your current job} doing other things with their lives. There is TONS of it. You just have to look for it. And then this proof will naturally expand your mind as to what's possible for YOU. 

Let's talk about some other examples, just to get your mind going. Did you know a nurse can work in the legal profession? Yep! Nurses are needed in medical malpractice cases. So maybe you don't like the day-to-day work of being a nurse, but maybe you'd like lending your expertise in a legal case. Or maybe you're a teacher. Did you ever dream of starting your own business one day? How about creating an online course in something you're proficient at? There are tons of people teaching all sorts of things online and you, my friend, are leaps and bounds ahead of them because you already have some real life teaching experience. Plus, online courses have exploded during the past year or two and it's an awesome business to start as a side hustle. 

I hope you're able to learn something valuable from my own experiences. My wish is for everyone to know the feeling of doing work that brings them joy. It truly is an unbelievable gift to not dread Mondays and hope for Friday's fast arrival. If you'd like my Weekly Journal sent straight to your inbox every week, click here to subscribe. 

P.S. Are you on Pinterest? I'm in the process of creating a Weekly Journal board on Pinterest so you can easily navigate all of my journal entries. You can view and follow the board by clicking here. I've written so much about quitting my lawyer job to start g+h over the past couple years and I want to make it easier for you to access and read the entries that resonate most!

xoxo,
Stacy

Welcome to another edition of my Weekly Journal! I use this space to share about my journey from lawyer to jewelry business owner. In this week's journal entry, I'm addressing that little voice in your head that says, "Yeah, that big dream of yours sounds nice and all, but here are all the reasons why it can't happen..."

Let's start by doing a little experiment. Think about that big thing you're wishing for - is it starting your own business? Switching careers? Being in a serious romantic relationship? Getting married? Having a child? Take a moment to picture it in your mind. Now, what does your mind say when you do that? Does it say "yeah, but..." and then list reasons why it can never happen? If you said yes, please read on. This journal entry is for you.

When we have a big dream but our mind says "yeah, but..." that means we don't believe it can be ours. We might say we want this or that, but deep down we don't believe it can actually happen. There is a disconnect. It can be painful to be in this stage because we're out of alignment and often don't know why. We might be hustling to make that dream happen, but we're encountering a lot of struggle and frustration in return. We can do "all the right things" but still not see it come to pass. So let me propose a new idea, a new storyline, for you to consider. Could it be that your dream is not coming to pass because your desires and beliefs do not match up? You know that quote, "You'll see it when you believe it?" That's kind of what I'm talking about here.

Now, you might be saying to yourself, "BUT I DO BELIEVE IT'S POSSIBLE. I REALLY DO!" If that's you, I ask you to get silent for a few moments. Lay down on your back with one hand on your heart and one hand on your stomach. Think about the dream you so badly want to see come to pass. Get still and silent as you think about that dream. Gently ask yourself the question, "Why hasn't this happened for me yet?" Be still and let some answers gently flow to you. Listen carefully to what comes up. There may be some hidden beliefs lurking in the background that have been holding you back. If the tears start to flow, let them come out. 

You might be thinking to yourself, I don't meditate, I don't "manifest", and this is "woo woo" kind of stuff. I respectfully disagree and I ask you to consider a different story. One need not look any further than the Bible to see evidence of this principle, this universal law - and I'm sure you don't think the Bible is "woo woo", right? Mark 11:24 says, "I give you my word, if you are ready to believe that you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer, it shall be done for you." It goes on to say, "Whoever says to this mountain, be lifted up and thrown into the sea, and has no inner doubts but believes that what he says will happen, shall have it done for him." I love this passage so much because it hints at another really important principle -- the ability to receive. Women in particular sometimes have a hard time receiving. Underneath that is often a feeling of unworthiness - we don't believe that we are entitled to receive the dream, we don't believe we're worthy of it. Or sometimes we think it's more important to be selfless and care for others more than we care for ourselves, and this can block our ability to receive too. There was a point in my business where I really had to work on my ability to receive. I was doing everything "right" and working hard at my dream, but still something was off. I wasn't seeing the abundance I desired and believed I deserved to receive. And voila! One day it clicked. My desires and beliefs were in alignment, but my ability to receive was out of whack. I needed to examine my self-worth and do some work around that. Sure enough, a short time later I had cleared some blocks around receiving and abundance started to flow more easily. For example, one of the blocks to receiving I had to clear was, "Who am I to make money doing something I love while the rest of the world struggles in jobs they hate?" I replaced that with "I deserve to do work I love and money can flow to me easily when I use the gifts and talents God gave me."

If you find yourself today in a place of frustration because you're working hard at a dream but it's not coming to pass (or you haven't even started working on it because you believe it's impossible or you're not worthy of it), I highly recommend you think about the ideas I've written about today. Even though you say you want your dream so badly, your inner beliefs might be doubting it. No amount of hustle is going to fix that. Rather, some internal work needs to be done.

I hope you're able to learn something from my own experience. If you'd like my Weekly Journal sent straight to your inbox every week, click here to subscribe. 

P.S. Are you on Pinterest? I'm in the process of creating a Weekly Journal board on Pinterest so you can easily navigate all of my journal entries. You can view and follow the board by clicking here. I've written so much about quitting my lawyer job to start g+h over the past couple years and I want to make it easier for you to access and read the entries that resonate most!

xoxo,
Stacy

Welcome to another edition of my Weekly Journal! I use this space to share about my journey from lawyer to jewelry business owner. In this week's journal entry, I'm writing about a simple yet profound sentence I heard the other day: "People want to change their world while they remain the same." It was said by one of my favorite authors and teachers, Michael Bernard Beckwith. If you read and follow my journal entries because you dislike your current career path and want to do something different, I encourage you to really think about and digest this sentence. It is not easy to make a big career change and many people give up before they've even started. You know why? I believe the answer lies in this very sentence.

I can tell you from first-hand experience that making a big, massive change requires a different, higher version of yourself. In fact, you have to first change things on the inside before you'll ever see real lasting change on the outside. Many of you already know that I quit my lawyer job after 11 years so let me ask you this. How do you think it happened? Do you think I got up one morning, said "I had enough of this!!!" and quit? Do you think I thought about it for a few weeks or a few months before I tendered my resignation? Well, from my perspective, I "started" to make my big career change when I enrolled in therapy in the second year of my legal career. That's when I really admitted to myself that my path was not sustainable. That I needed to make a change. My career was really out of alignment with my values and priorities, I was always sick with a mild cold or mild stomach ache (it's amazing what stress can do to you), and I just knew that I could not do this career much longer. But after investing about $150,000 in my law degree, I sought out the help of a therapist to talk things out. I wanted to make a solid decision, given the time and money I had spent to enter the legal profession. I didn't want to do anything I'd regret later. 

Well, those therapy sessions really set me on a path of self-discovery and self-awareness that I was not expecting! I was led to books and lectures and podcasts and all sorts of things over the following years. All of these things helped me become aware of the issues holding me back and the areas I had to work on. Everything from seeking the approval of my father through high achievement, to people-pleasing, to perfectionism, to victim mentality, and a few things in between. 

When I cleared some of these blocks (which took years) and became more in alignment with myself, things on the outside really started to change. Long story short, some old friendships left and new friendships entered, I quit my lawyer job, started my own business, moved from Chicago to the beach in South Carolina, went from single to in a serious relationship... and on and on the changes came. And what I can tell you from this journey is that Michael Bernard Beckwith is 100% accurate. You're not going to see your circumstances change unless YOU are willing to change.

Change is scary. Trust me, I know. But it's a necessary part of creating the life you want. I see it all the time - people want SO badly to change careers or some other aspect of their life, but they give up the second they realize it's going to be difficult or uncomfortable. They don't want to give anything up. They don't want to change their patterns or their routine. They don't want to change the way they think about career or money. Think about it this way - your current beliefs, your current way of being in the world, your current choices, got you to where you are today. Right? If you don't like where you are today, you've got to change some of those things, right? You've got to make new choices and perhaps change your beliefs around career and what you deserve in terms of a job, and the way you think about money, and you need to show up differently in the world in order to have something different. Does that make sense? It's so simple, yet so profound. 

If you want to make a big change, chances are you want to see that change ASAP. In that case, I highly recommend you work on the internal blockages and obstacles holding you back more than you work on your resume or new website. I mean that from the bottom of my heart. Because here's the deal - if you are able to force and hustle your way into that big change without first fixing the internal "stuff" it's probably not going to last long. It's not going to have staying power. The world is pretty predictable like that - your inside and outside need to line up. Your inner world and your outer circumstances need to be in alignment and, if they're not, your world will self-correct. The thing will usually be taken away. Think of it this way - you know how many people win the lottery and end up bankrupt two years later? It's the same principle. You can't hand $4 million to someone who isn't in alignment with it - to someone who has all of these issues and negative beliefs around money and their being worthy of wealth. You see how that works? It's pretty amazing how our inner beliefs really do dictate our reality and our experience of the world.

I hope you're able to learn something from my own experience. If you'd like my Weekly Journal sent straight to your inbox every week, click here to subscribe. 

P.S. Are you on Pinterest? I'm in the process of creating a Weekly Journal board on Pinterest so you can easily navigate all of my journal entries. You can view and follow the board by clicking here. I've written so much about quitting my lawyer job to start g+h over the past couple years and I want to make it easier for you to access and read the entries that resonate most!

xoxo,
Stacy

Welcome to another edition of my Weekly Journal! I use this space to share about my journey from lawyer to jewelry business owner. In this week's journal entry, I want to speak directly to those of you who desperately want to make a change in your job or career. It's not just a case of "I don't like my job" but rather a deep knowing that you are not in the right place. You also have a deep knowing that there's something more out there for you. You likely feel physically drained. Perhaps you even feel you're in a toxic environment at work. If these things are resonating with you, read on. 

I understand the desperation. I have been there. In fact, I was there for almost all 11 years of my 11 year career as a lawyer. I knew almost from the very, very beginning that it was not the right career for me. It felt like I was betraying my soul by staying in that career. That might sound dramatic but if you've been in my position (or currently are in that position) that phrase probably resonates deeply with you. Like I said, this isn't merely a case of "work stinks" but a much deeper issue. A complete and total mis-alignment that tugs at your heart strings and your soul each day. You feel lost. Misplaced. Like an outsider.

Here's the problem with desperation - it can result in rash and extreme behavior. You need only look to a dictionary to see that is true. "Desperation" is defined as "a state of despair, typically one which results in rash or extreme behavior." So my message to you would be this: resist the urge to pick another job or career and jump to it. Instead, make your mental health a priority first. Work on the issues around career that are coming up for you. Again, and I can't say this enough, this isn't merely a case of "I don't like my job," It's far, far deeper than that. And those issues need to be brought to the surface and addressed first. In fact, just like in a romantic relationship, if you don't understand the issues that led to your breakup, you're more likely to repeat them in the next relationship..errr I mean career. You get the point.

Let me give you an example from my own journey. One of the reasons I believe I was attracted to the legal profession had to do with my father. My father was a bit difficult to grow up with, and he rarely gave encouraging, kind words unless we did something great at school. I grew up thinking that "in order to make dad happy, I need to get an A on my exam." On a deep level, that translates to "I am worthy of love if I am a high achiever." Of course this conclusion is incorrect, but as a child, you don't know any better. You don't realize that your dad has issues of his own that are causing him to withhold love from his children (in my case, my dad had some mental health issues). This belief carried throughout my life and led me to be an A+ star student and perfectionist. I went to an Ivy League college, went to a top 25 law school, graduated in the top of my classes, and got a big fancy lawyer job with a high salary. Sadly, my dad's love was not waiting for me at the finish line. Nor was my own happiness. I am so incredibly glad that I worked with a therapist before I quit my legal job. I was able to understand my journey much more clearly. In particular, I was able to understand the reasons why I picked law as a career. This newfound awareness ensured that I didn't pick another career based on the same subconscious motivations. Instead I was able to get in touch with my true gifts, talents, and skills and pick a career based on those things. There's a much higher chance of success when you take action from that grounded, practical place, rather than from subconscious beliefs you don't even know are running (and ruining!) your life.

I hope this journal entry was enlightening. If this sounds like you, make your mental health your first priority right now. Changing careers can be a dramatic change, depending on your circumstances, and you want to make sure you're setting yourself up for success. Maybe you don't have deep-seated issues around career like I did, but you'll never really know unless you pause and explore it. You don't become desperately unhappy in a job by accident. That feeling of desperation is deserving of being explored. There might be important information it's trying to tell you. 

If you'd like my Weekly Journal sent straight to your inbox every week, click here to subscribe. I hope you're able to learn something from my experience and also my mistakes!

P.S. Are you on Pinterest? I'm in the process of creating a Weekly Journal board on Pinterest so you can easily navigate all of my journal entries. You can view and follow the board by clicking here. I've written so much about quitting my lawyer job to start g+h over the past couple years and I want to make it easier for you to access and read the entries that resonate most!

xoxo,
Stacy

Welcome to another edition of my Weekly Journal! I use this space to share about my journey from lawyer to jewelry business owner. In this week's journal entry, I'm talking about overcoming hopelessness and overwhelm. If you don't like where you are currently - whether that's in your career, in your relationships, or in some other area of your life - but you're feeling hopeless that it'll change or overwhelmed at the prospect of making a change, this journal entry is for you.

In my experience, the way through these feelings of overwhelm and hopelessness is self-empowerment. How do you empower yourself? Dare I say it has never been easier? No matter what your problem is these days, there are resources available to you through the click of a finger on your computer. You can research absolutely anything online. I'm not saying all you'll find will be valuable (hence the word "research" which requires some analysis and critical thinking about what you find), but there is a wealth of information out there waiting to be found. That information can help educate you. Through that education, you can develop a plan forward. Perhaps that plan includes purchasing a certain book, hiring a coach or therapist, taking an online course, finding an in-person or Facebook group with like-minded individuals for support, etc. Trust me, you are not alone. You are not the first person to have this problem. You don't need to reinvent the wheel (and don't make your life difficult by thinking you need to do so). Be willing and open to learn from other people who have already "figured out" your problem. Gather the potential solutions or paths forward, then decide which one is best for you. But you have got to be proactive. You've got to do something. Wallowing in self-pity and "this is too hard" is not going to fix anything, yet many prefer to put on Netflix, numb out, and stay there. Depending on the magnitude of your problem, take a night or a week or a month to chill out, but don't let yourself get stuck there.

For example, say you want to start your own business but you're feeling so much overwhelm about setting up a website. There are so many different providers - how do you know which one to choose? Well, hop on your computer and start looking for articles that have compared and contrasted the various website providers. If you do that, you'll probably find a nice chart that lists the most popular options and compares them. From that chart, you'll probably be able to narrow it down to a few providers that meet your needs and price range. Then you can hop onto the websites of those providers and - chances are - you'll find a free webinar or video diving more deeply into their offerings. Watch them. That'll help you further narrow down your list of options. Maybe you'll be left with two choices at that point. Then search the internet for articles comparing these two choices. Also, do you know anyone in your family or circle of friends who has a website? What do they use? Are they happy with that choice? Have they done research on the various platforms that they can share with you? Then make a decision. I know people who've gotten paralyzed for months on their start-up-business journey because they can't choose a website provider, or a logo color, or something even more simple. You can always change your mind down the road.

As another example, let's say you've been wanting to lose weight but it's just not happening even though you believe you're eating properly and exercising. I encourage you not to get stuck in feelings of frustration and hopelessness. You can see a nutritionist or hire a personal trainer. If those things aren't in your budget, you can go online and do some research. Be open to the possibility that you aren't eating healthy for your particular body, age, activity level, or medical condition (eating "healthy" doesn't just mean less calories - there is a lot involved). Be open to the possibility that your exercise routine might be outdated. For example, as women age, it's really healthy to add some light weight training. But how would you know that unless you did some research? Through your research, maybe you'll find a health coach that resonates with you online and her Instagram is full of free tips and tricks you can put into practice. You can learn so much from diving head first into your problem, rather than sitting on the sidelines complaining about it. Again, you are not the first person to experience this problem and you won't be the last. Be open to expanding your mind. Be open to the possibility that you don't know it all. Through educating yourself you'll start to feel empowered and that'll give you motivation to move forward.

I'd be remiss not to include one other point in this journal entry: pray. Pray to a God of your own understanding. Ask for help. Ask for guidance. You don't need to do this alone. I'll admit, even though I've believed in God my whole life, prayer wasn't a big part of my life until the past 5 years or so. There was this moment when I realized I can call on help. I don't need to do it all alone. And some things just can't be done successfully without divine intervention in my opinion (such as grieving the death of a parent). So don't hesitate to surrender your worries and hopelessness through prayer.

I wrote this journal entry because it's so easy to get stuck. It's so easy to say "I tried and it didn't work" and stop there. It's so easy to wallow in "this will never happen" or "this is too hard." But there is another choice available to you. You can choose hopelessness and overwhelm or you can choose to be proactive about resolving and changing your situation. Big problems will obviously require more of you than small ones, but the same principles apply. You can do this. You can figure it out. And I am cheering you on as you take the first step!

If you'd like my Weekly Journal sent straight to your inbox every week, click here to subscribe. I hope you're able to learn something from my experience and also my mistakes!

P.S. Are you on Pinterest? I'm in the process of creating a Weekly Journal board on Pinterest so you can easily navigate all of my journal entries. You can view and follow the board by clicking here. I've written so much about quitting my lawyer job to start g+h over the past couple years and I want to make it easier for you to access and read the entries that resonate most!

xoxo,
Stacy